


Stranded for Christmas

by PrussiaSheiala



Series: Hidden Omega side stories [25]
Category: EXO (Band), NCT (Band), SHINee, SuperM (Korea Band)
Genre: Alpha Kim Jongin | Kai, Alpha Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Beta Lee Taeyong, Beta Mark Lee (NCT), Christmas Story, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Omega Byun Baekhyun, Omega Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten, Omega Lee Taemin, Omega Verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28379127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrussiaSheiala/pseuds/PrussiaSheiala
Summary: All members of Super M had looked forward to going home for Christmas, seeing their packs, their loves, but SM had a very different idea.// Can be read as a standalone, Hidden Omega is just my specific version of the omega verse.
Relationships: Exo Ot12 - Relationship, Kim Jongin | Kai/Lee Taemin, Kim Jongin | Kai/Lee Taemin/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Mark Lee/Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten, NCT OT21 +- who ever I have forgotten, OT7 - Relationship, SHINee ot5 + Jongin and Lucas, SuperM Ot7, You can't meta tag all of the SuperM members, so just imagine it - Relationship
Series: Hidden Omega side stories [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/714687
Comments: 17
Kudos: 48





	Stranded for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written at around 5 am suffering from massive sleep deprivation.
> 
> If you are a regular reader of mine wondering where that last chapter of Hidden Omega is, it is 12k words long right now, but I don't wanna work on it when I am not right in my mind, I hope that makes sense!
> 
> This should be a good introduction to more Gen4, Super M Hidden Omega stories... plus you know... the sequel.
> 
> If you are new, here is a few key notes:
> 
> Giant romantic packs is the norm.  
> Sex is not a big thing here, and is kinda treated like a hug or kisses, sometimes you share them with your friends, and nobody gets jalouse.  
> SM sucks... oh so much.

"Repeat that?" Baekhyun's voice was cold as ice as he spoke into the phone, the rest of Super M all gathered around him, anxiously waiting to figure out what the fuck was going on.

All of them were still in their outerwear, suitcases next to them, they had been getting ready to leave the US, to go back home to their different groups and packs.

It was Christmas in just 2 days, and while all of Super M enjoyed and even loved each other in different ways, they had other people to come home to. Still, as they got ready to leave for their flight, suddenly their manager had texted them, telling them that it was cancelled.

Baekhyun had lost it. Nobody outside of Taemin and Jongin had ever seen the omega that furious. Baekhyun was usually always smiling. Yes, he could be serious, but NEVER did he lose control of his anger.

Taeyong was awkwardly leaning against Lucas, eyes wide as he had never seen the other man like that before. Ten was typing on his phone, fingers going 30 miles per hour as he explained everything he knew in the group chat as quickly as possible, swapping back to his private messages with Johnny, it was the first time in almost five months that he was meant to be seeing his bonded alpha, now that was probably not gonna happen.

Ten knew that while the rest of his fellow NCT members still hoped that they would get hope, he, like the older members of Super M, knew SM very well. They were once again playing their hands, flexing their muscles, showing their idols exactly who were in charge.

Letting them go home meant that Lucas would finally get to spend some time with SHINee, the pack he wanted to probably mate with. Jongin and Taemin would get to spend time as a pack, with their pack and their potential new baby alpha. Mark and Taeyong would get to go home to NCT, who was slowly trying to find out what to do with the fact that they loved each other, but weren't allowed to bond. They had all looked forward to going home, but Ten had always been hesitant about it.

He was still unsure if SM wanted him in NCT, he was pretty damn sure they just wanted him as far away from Johnny, from  _ his  _ alpha, as possible. Then again, the rest of Super M, bless their cotton socks, had always made sure that he knew that he was wanted and that he was perfect for them.

He forced his attention away from his phone to look at Baekhyun who had hung up, the omega staring angrily at the electronics with unbridled fury in his eyes. Nobody dared speaking up, all could sense the unhappy omega hormones in the air, and Baekhyun's cent was going sour, all of them knew what had happened, they weren't going home.

First, when Baekhyun's shoulder started to shake, did somebody move. Taemin moved in that way that only he could, the way that made Ten remember exactly why pretty much every dancer of Gen3 and Gen3 looked up to him, gliding across the room more than walking before stopping and wrapping his arms around Baekhyun, pulling the fellow omega into a warm hug "it's okay you can let it out."

Ten was almost horrified when he realised that Baekhyun was  _ crying,  _ their leader was normally always the pillar of them, drying their tears when they were crying, keeping them close and safe, but suddenly he was the one crying. The only time Ten had seen Baekhyun crying was once during sex, and that was cause of Lucas's glorious way to big cock had been ravaging his prostate. Those were good tears, this was different; this was… a lot.

One of the biggest things that Ten had learned during his time with Super M, was that these idols that he looked up to, who he had seen was larger than life, we're actually just… people. They had insecurities, they had flaws, well okay, Ten still refused to believe that Taemin had flaws, nobody could ever convince him that the SHINee dance machine wasn't perfect. Yes, he could be grumpy and whiny when he was tired. Yes, he was a huge fucking tease, which Ten had luckily only been on the other side of once, which was good cause he was pretty sure his balls had been close to falling off. He wasn't sure how Jongin and the rest of SHINee did it, but none of that mattered cause he was Lee fucking Taemin, and he could probably stab Ten and Ten would still thank him.

Seeing his fellow omega cry was enough to get Ten to drop his phone back into his coat pocket, and step up, to join in on the hug. Baekhyun's words were quiet, but they still hurt Ten's heart "I am sorry! I just wanted everybody to get home for Christmas, but now we are stuck here, and they won't let us go back home!"

It hurt the realise that it wasn't that Baekhyun was sad that he wouldn't be able to go home, no that was not the problem, the problem was that he was sad that the rest of them wouldn't be able to go home, that he was blaming himself for it.

He wasn't sure how to answer, what to say to make  _ Baekhyun  _ of all people feel better, it wasn't his fault! Luckily he didn't have to, as Taemin just scuffed "we have all been in this shithole of a company long enough to be well aware that none of this is your fault. If anything it's probably on me and Nini cause SM doesn't like that technically, their contracts can't stop us from claiming pretty boy over there, which we are going to, cause SM can go fuck themselves."

Ten let his eyes glide from Baekhyun's still shaking body without letting go of him, looking at Lucas for just a second, the tall alpha was flushing a deliciously red colour, and Ten couldn't stop himself from giggling, it was still so cute to him how all it took was either Jongin or Taemin to compliment him, and suddenly he was just a blushing baby. Well, that and when they would argue about who got to ride his cock, cause that was indeed a glorious cock.

Taeyong spoke up hesitantly "it is just as much our fault, there has been talk about bonding in NCT again, to say fuck the rules after Yuta's heat went shits last time. He is suffering."

Ten's heart ached at the thought of Yuta, part of him could still feel the other omega in their bond, like phantom pain. He would never hold it against Yuta that he rejected the bite, that he refused to take the bite again, he knew that Yuta loved him, loved Johnny, just as much as they loved him, but with Hansol gone. The rest of NCT, of the men they LOVED, unable to join them in the pack… it just hurt Yuta so much.

His heats were getting worse, and nothing was helping. They had hoped breaking the bond would be enough, that it would help Yuta. It had at first, the man had seemed genuinely happier, but then everything had taken a sharp dive down, and he wasn't the only one. Jaehyun's ruts were getting unstable, way too frequent as well, he was getting ruts of an alpha whose pack was unstable, only thing was that Jaehyun didn't have a pack. It was all fucked up, all coming from the fact that fucking SM wanted to market them as 'single' and 'ready to join any pack'. 

Fuck, SM, really.

"Or maybe they are just greedy for money," it was the first time Jongin spoke up ", or maybe they just like to hurt us. Honestly all of them are equally likely, but it is nobody's fault here. All we can do is enjoy our time together, and hey." he winked at Lucas, "I could think of worse company."

The sound that came from Lucas was somewhere between a kettle reaching boiling point and a pig being pulled by the tail, it was still incredible how Jongin could go from sweet and soft, and as close to a soft alpha as Ten could imagine, to putting on his Kai smirk and was suddenly the smoothest person ever and basically the definition of sex on legs.

Baekhyun raised his head, dabbing his eyes "yeah!" he sounded a lot more like himself "fuck all of them! If we are miserable, we are letting them win. Fuck them and fucking letting them win! Everybody, go unpack, message who you need and then we will get stuff here ready for Christmas. I am not gonna let them ruin Christmas!"

Ten was completely sold, there was still a glint in Baekhyun's eyes, he wasn't completely over it, but he was better. It made the tension on Ten's own stomach uncoil just a bit, "yeah, that is probably for the best."

Finally, for the first time since they planes were cancelled, Mark spoke up, eagerness in his voice "We are gonna make the best damn Christmas ever! Just to spite them!"

Now that… didn't sound like a bad idea.

Back in their rooms, Taemin wrapped his arms around Jongin's middle from behind, pressing a kiss between his alpha's bare shoulder blades, he had been in the middle of changing, "you knew this was coming."

"So did you." Jongin leaned his head back a little, he was a fair bit taller than Taemin, so it was a little awkward, but they had worked with this height difference for years, so they were used to it.

"I had this hope that they would allow us to be happy without fucking with us." Taemin sighed into his mate's tanned shoulders "they had all looked forward to meeting Lucas in a less  _ formal setting _ ."

As if summoned by the mention of his name, a light knock was on the door. Lucas awkwardly shuffled into the room, stiffing in the doorframe as he saw the two of them together "I didn't mean to interrupt, I am sorry I will just leave."

Taemin couldn't help, but giggle "come over here you big baby, you know you are always welcome." He didn't move away from Jongin, but he did unfurl one arm from around the solid alpha, to open his arms to the other man "you doing okay? I know you were looking forward to going home."

As much as Taemin liked to tease, as much as he loved to drive both of the alpha insane, he cared about them and their well being.

Lucas was quick to make his way over there, joining into the embrace, wrapping one arm around Jongin and another around Taemin. Taemin couldn't help, but appreciate both of these men, tall tanned and handsome, both his alphas, both his baby alphas.

The younger buried his face in Jongin's shoulder, taking a deep breath in to get more of the man's scent into his lungs "I am doing fi…" he didn't get to finish his sentence before Taemin pinched his ass cheek through the light cotton of his trousers. 

It was something that he had realised early on, Lucas would always downplay his own emotions not show off exactly how hurt he was, he seemingly thought it was a good way of going about things, as to not hurt people, but Taemin was having none of that.

Lucas whined, coursing Jongin to laugh as he put his hand over Taemin and Lucas's that was resting on his abs "You don't have to lie, you can be honest with us, it's okay."

God, Taemin loved this man, Jongin always understood what Taemin meant, and soft, but deep voice, was enough to make Lucas rethink his answer, but admitting "I am disappointed, I was… looking forward too. I know we talked about everything on the phone and video calls, but nothing feels real until it's… real."

This was about the rest of SHINee, while all of them had talked together multiple times and done… other stuff… on video calls, still Taemin off all people knew exactly how things didn#t feel real until you got to touch somebody until they could sit in front of them and go 'yes I want you as well.' as much as he loved teasing Lucas, he was also well aware how all of this was going so fast for the younger.

All of them had fleeting emotions and feelings from seeing each other in the hallway, from short hellos and hi's, but none of them had been able to actually figure out what it meant until they were in a group together.

Taemin hadn't actually been the one who had realised what the feelings in his chest were every time he saw Lucas, he had thought at first it was just a lust thing after all the rest of the Super M members knew exactly what lust for Lucas was, and nobody was even trying to hide it.

It was actually Jongin, sweet and nice Jongin who had sat Taemin down straight to his face gone 'I think my alpha likes his, and I think I do as well.'

For a good few hours, Taemin's world had turned upside down, none of them, especially him had ever considered the idea that maybe, just maybe their pack wasn't done, that there was still a missing piece, after that he had been quick to accept it. Cause what he felt for Lucas was… it was different than what he felt for any other person who wasn't part of his pack.

Then came talking to the rest of SHINee, luckily all of them could confirm that they had had some kind of feelings and pull towards Lucas when meeting him, but none able to put a finger to it until Jongin had realised what it was.

Then had come the daunting task of actually talking to Lucas, cause it didn't matter what they felt for him if he didn't feel it for them in return. Taemin would never admit it, he had a damn image to uphold, but his hands had been shaking under the table as they spoke to the younger alpha.

At first, poor Lucas had seemed genuinely taken aback, like he had not even considered it a possibility, he had even gone as far as to confused point at himself and go 'me?' as if they would ever be talking about somebody else.

Then as he finally understood, a smile that Taemin would forever carry in his heart as a treasured memory spread on the youngers lips "I… I think I like you guys as well, as more than everybody else."

It had turned out that Lucas had for weeks even months, even before Super M had been a thing, he hadn't felt as if he would have expected to for any of the NCT members, not even for WayV. While the rest of NCT had been pining for each other, sharing whispered words of love, but unable to actually do something about it.

Lucas had… not been pining, he wasn't even sure what they were all about, he didn't have this clawing feeling in the chest, and while he felt deeply for his members, he wasn't  _ in love _ , he had first thought that maybe he was just too young, then in horror, as time went on, thought that maybe he was just broken.

Later, Lucas would admit that at times he would get just tiny little glints of scent that he wanted to follow, that was calling to him, but he had never been able to. First, when he got close enough with Taemin and Jongin during Super M had he realised what that scent was.

From there on, things had actually gone really well, and while all of them in Super M was messing around, there was always a certain undertone to any time Lucas was with Jongin or Taemin.

Lucas had been introduced to the rest of the SHINee members over video chat, and everything had worked out, Lucas had even started to do private calls and text with them, everybody was growing closer, it was all working out. Christmas was meant to be their first time together, all of them, it was meant to be special, until SM had taken it away from them, just like SM had taken so many things away from them.

Even if Taemin was smiling, a sob wracked his body before he was able to hold it back, he had expected this, SM loved fucking with him, he had been so focused on trying to project happiness, to keep a smile on that he hadn't realised how… broken he himself felt over it.

More worried about Jongin, about Lucas and about the rest of the members, he had thought that he could just ignore what had happened. File it in the back of his mind under the, 'more things SM has done to hurt me.' always try to keep Jongin away from him, even before Exo had even debuted, add or remove funding for his solo's depending on how much they thought he had played along.

Both alpha's reacted instantly, Jongin shrugged of the arms around him off to instead wrap them around his oldest friend and mate "fuck Minnie, it's okay, we are all gonna be okay."

Taemin was crying before he even realised what he was doing, his heart aching in ways he couldn't describe, in a way he wasn't prepared for. Desperately gripping at Jongin's shoulders to have something to hold onto, he couldn't stop the ugly sobs from leaving his body, nor the tears streaming down his face "fuck them! Why do they keep doing this! Fuck them! It isn't fair."

It had been years since Taemin had thrown a tantrum like this, angry at the world, he normally got to deal with his emotions before it hit a boiling point, but he… he had wanted this, he had let himself hope, he wanted to show the rest of his pack Lucas, a man he thought would be perfect for them, would fit perfectly into their lives, a man that made his inner omega happy.

He had let himself hope, let himself dream, that had been his first mistake. Cause SM would take all his hopes and dreams and stomp on them, just to keep him under control, they always had. The worst part was, it wasn't like he was special, they did that to all of their idols, they never cared about any of their idols, only about what would earn them more money, their idols were just dancing monkeys they used to make money with.

For a second, Taemin was worried he was about to have a panic attack, something he hadn't had since Jongin had finally taken the packbite, but he felt a calm settle over him as Lucas wrapped this long, strong arms around him, hugging him close, without trying to move him away from Jongin. The combined scent of amber and saffron, a mix that Taemin had never thought to combine until he got to know the two of them, washed over him, helping to calm his frayed nerves. To centre him around these two men that he loved, cause he loved even Lucas, even if Taemin knew it was way too early for them to be saying anything like that.

"It's okay Taemin, it might not be what we planned, but they are old men, they are gonna die way before us, and then we will be free." it was extremely flawed logic, but it was said with enough humour in his voice that Taemin actually laughed at it.

His laugh was rough and a little harsh around the edges, as another sob went through his body "I think…" he stopped for a second to clear his throat, voice more back to his normal one "That they have eaten enough baby souls that they will actually live forever."

"Now, that is a terrifying thought." Jongin sounded genuinely terrified, and it was enough to make all three of them laugh.

Taemin wasn't okay, and he was pretty damn sure that neither of the two alphas was either, but for now, he would ignore it and make the best out of Christmas. SM wanted to make them miserable, but Taemin refused to let them win.

In a different room, Mark was lying on his side in the darkened room that he had claimed as his, Taeyong was wrapped around him, hiding his face between his fellow beta's shoulder blades. Mark was on the phone with Taeil, video chatting the alpha, who was de facto in control of the not actually existing NCT pack when Taeyong were away "Mark, baby it's okay, nobody is angry with either of you."

There had already been tears shed before Mark had even called up Taeil to tell him the bad news, while he just as Taemin, had put up a brave front, to hopefully get everybody in a better mood, not going home hurt him more than he could ever imagine. Atleast Taemin had a pack bond that he could rely on, he could still feel his pack members in his soul, his omega was still claimed, Mark like Taeyong was free-falling, both of their inner sub genders and already picked who they loved, who they wanted to be with.

Unrequested love was hard, but it had turned out that knowing the people you love more than anything wants to be with you, but you can't be with them cause your company could literally ruin your life to the point where you might not survive it was even worse.

"We wanted to come home!" It wasn't the first time since he had called up the older man that Mark had let out those words, he really felt that he was letting them all down, even if it wasn't his choice.

Taeyong didn't say anything, but Mark could feel how the other man was shaking, the arm he had around Mark's waist was a clear sign, so was the tears he could feel wetting the back of his shirt. It was hitting Taeyong even more than it was hitting Mark, as outside of just feeling he was letting his packmates down for not coming home, Taeyong was also feeling as if he was letting them down as a leader.

Taeil could clearly see that as he sighed softly, Mark knew that the alpha wanted to reach out and calm them, but there was no way he could "I know darlings." Mark hated the nickname so much, which was exactly why Taeil would always call him it.

Mark had once made the mistake of saying that the cute nicknames should go to the omega's, not betas like him, it had been early on when Mark had still felt that being a beta was just 'lesser' than being an omega or alpha. Less special, less important, less… everything.

He was lucky that his group mates had made sure that he knew that he was loved, that he was no less special than anybody else, plus Mark had started to really enjoy the calming effect he has a beta had on omegas and alphas lost in their own mind because of ruts or heats. From there on out, they had always made sure to give him tons of sweet nicknames that would always embarrass him, but they served their point.

"Can you tell the other?" it wasn't fair for Mark to make Taeil the bearer of bad news, he knew it wasn't, but he couldn't really deal with doing it himself, not at that moment when the wound was still so fresh.

"Of course, call us whenever you feel like it, I mean it Mark, at any point, no matter the schedule, no matter anything, just call us. Promise me." his tone was so serious, and Mark knew that he wouldn't accept anything other than that.

He couldn't get himself to do anything other than just nodding, while he was no longer crying, his tongue felt too big in his mouth, he couldn't figure out how to even start speaking words.

Luckily Taeyong was there to make up for it, to help him when he needed it, just like he always was "we promise."

"Is that Mark and Taeyong you are talking to?" A voice on Taeil's side called out, moving closer through the sentence until Johnny's face popped into view with a big smile on his lips "you are gonna have to wait until after Christmas for your gifts it seems."

Marks' heart clenched at the sight of the alpha's smiling features, if anybody was hurt by this it would be him, him and Ten had not seen each other for months, and they were  _ bonded,  _ but here he was smiling and trying to make them feel better, cause that was just who Johnny was.

"Yours as well." Taeyong had once again poked his head up from behind Mark's back, sniffling a little as he tried to dry his arms, "we are sorry."

Johnny's laughter made an almost calm fall over Mark. It was a nice feeling, making him finally feel a bit grounded, for the first time since the news had hit them, "you were never a pretty crier Yongie, I really wished nothing ever made you cry."

It was both a teasing line that made Taeyong giggle, but also a sweet line to make it clear that Johnny cared for him, "I will try not to."

For just a second, all of them were calm, no words needed to be said, until Johnny's face got serious "can you… check up on Ten for me? He texted me what had happened, but he isn't answering my calls, he is doing that thing where he just sends happy smileys pretending not to be sad."

All three of the other NCT members grimaced, they had all had to deal with that side of Ten before. They were all pretty sure that Ten didn't know he was doing it, he was almost like an injured panther, curling in on himself to lick his wounds, not wanting to show everybody else, just how hurt he actually was.

Taeyong's hand on Mark's hip tightened for a second, and Mark fully understood the feeling that was going through him, Ten had really looked forward to going back home, not even home to Thailand, but home to the man he was bonded with. Ten hadn't just wanted to go home, not just looked forward to going him, he had needed it, and now that was taken away from him.

All of them, without even saying it, was very well aware of the fact that it was very likely that Ten wouldn't go back to Korea since their trip had been delayed, no he would be shipped straight to China to work with WayV, and while Ten loved them very much and loved working with WayV, none of them was bonded to him.

"Of course." Mark was quick to answer, he hated the idea that Ten was alone in his room, pretending to be fine when he clearly wasn't. While yes Mark could not mate with Ten because of their contract, he still loved the omega and wanted to be with him one day.

"Thank it's just... "Johnny looked away for a second, not wanting to meet anybody's eyes.

Mark wanted to reach out, to soothe, to say it would be okay, but he couldn't, no matter how much he wanted to.

Luckily Taeil was there, wrapping an arm around Johnny, giving him a light squish, whatever was said between the two alphas were to quite for either of the betas stuck on the other side of the world to hear it, but neither of them needed to hear it, Johnny nodding and smiling was enough for them to know it was gonna be okay. They were gonna be okay, it might not feel it at that moment, they just had to suffer through SM's shit behaviour, and they would come out stronger on the other side, they would come out happy. Mark swore that to himself, all of them, would be happy one day, he loved these men, and he was willing to fight for them, to wait for them.

Ending the call was hard, both Mark and Taeyong didn't want to, wanted to feel closer to the rest of their members, but it was getting very late in Korea, and it wasn't fair to get them to try and stay when they still had a schedule in the morning.

As the screen on Mark's phone went black, both him and Taeyong were quiet for almost a full moment until a soft knock was heard on the door "can I come in?" it was Ten, his voice was shaking and hoarse, and Mark didn't need to have seen it to know that he had been crying.

Taeyong was the first one to react, letting go of Mark for the first time since they had gotten to the room, up from the bed with a speed that was honestly impressive in his state, "of course," Ten was barely in the door before he was wrapped into Taeyong's solid arms, hugged closed, where Ten just… crumbled.

Clear distress and grief in the omega's sobs as he grabbed at the back of Taeyong's hoodie in a way to seemingly desperately try to ground and centre himself "we were meant to go home! Finally! They can't do this!"

Even tho the dried tear stains were still on Taeyong's cheeks, it didn't stop him from hugging Lucas close pressing his lips to the soft part of the man's hair "It's okay, it's gonna be okay."

"You don't understand! I feel like part of me is being torn apart, as if the bond is getting weaker by the day! I can't stop questioning if I should even keep it if it would be better for me to reject it like Yuta!" It was the first time Mark had ever seen Ten as much as question the pack, the pack, anything really. Ten had always seemed so sure of himself as if he had always known that he was making the right choice.

Mark suddenly started to question if Ten was a lot less okay than he pretended to be, he was proud to admit it, but there had been times where Mark had been jaloused of Ten and Johnny for having the pack, even if SM was constantly punishing them for it, it had to be better than not having it right? He had even been annoyed at Yuta, he had it! A pack! Why would he give it up, when it was what all of them so desperately wanted, to be allowed to bond with each other.

Now looking at Ten, breaking down in Taeyong's arms, Mark was starting to think if really it hadn't been a small mercy for him to never had even tried to bond with any of them, since he hadn't gone against their rules, he wasn't in SM's shitbook, and while yes they overworked him, they didn't have their laser eyes on him waiting to punish every move he took. 

It wouldn't be like this forever, every single SM group were slowly getting to the edge where they would break as people if they kept getting pushed, at a point they couldn't give anymore, and Mark, together with the rest of NCT just had to stay sane, they just had to keep themselves together.

Getting up from the bed, he abandoned his phone, as he wrapped both of the other men up in his arms, joining into the group hug "we are gonna be okay, all of us." it might not feel like it at that moment, but Mark had to believe that it was gonna be okay.

Baekhyun refused to cry, his hands were shaking, but he refused to cry, he was the leader of the group he should not cry. His hands were shaking as he tapped through his contacts, trying to decide which one would be the best to talk to. He had to tell one of them at least, they were expecting him, they were looking forward to him coming home. They finally had Luhan back with them, and Jimin got time off from being part of BTS, they were gonna be together, as a pack, eventually, all of them.

Of course, SM would have stopped it, they never liked that Jimin joined them, and they definitely didn't like how quickly Luhan threw off their conditioning. They thought they had broken him, but they had forgotten one thing. Exo was done not talking about things, letting misunderstanding fester up, it had almost gone wrong again, but not this time.

They talked it over, they solved their issues, and SM hated them for it. Sometimes Baekhyun questioned why SM was even doing what they were doing, nobody was evil just to be evil. At first, it all made sense, they wanted to profit, and they didn't care how many people they hurt to get that profit, putting people on questionable medication to make them act more the way SM found marketable, but now… now it was about control. About beating the idols down so their followed orders, so they didn't dare go against it.

With the landscape of Kpop changing, SM no longer had the same power, they weren't one of the only holders of that power, and they didn't like that.

Baekhyun never did get to choose who to call as his phone started ringing, and his heart dropped, it was Jimin, his fellow omega, sweet, sweet Jimin who now had to be the one to bring bad news to the rest of them. His eyes were starting to get wet again, but Baekhyun refused to cry, nope not gonna cry.

For just a second, Baekhyun considered letting it go to the answering machine, to just ignore Jimin's call, but that wasn't fair and would make the omega worry even more, instead he took a deep breath mumbling to himself "suck it up buttercup, you can do this."

It seemed that he didn't have to break the news to Jimin, the omega was smiling his happy eye smile that he usually would when the video called Baekhyun, instead his expression was serious and a bit sombre. It was an expression that Baekhyun didn't like on the younger, it reminded him too much of how Jimin would look when he had first gotten to them, it was an expression Baekhyun never wanted to see if he could help it.

"Hey love," he knew that his voice was weird, probably stemming from the fact that he was trying to hold back his tears.

"Baek…" Jimin was biting at his lower lip, looking at the screen with deep sadness in his eyes, but not the sadness coming from he himself being sad, but sadness seemingly coming from feeling sad FOR Baekhyun "I was with Minho when Taemin texted him, I am so sorry baby."

The dumb animalistic part of his brain almost purred at the thought of Jimin with his friends, Baekhyun didn't know what it was, but parts of him always got so excited when he saw Jimin spending time with some of Baekhyun's own friends. It made it feel more real, proving that Jimin was a part of his world that was planning on staying. Maybe it was losing 2 omegas in their pack already that made Baekhyun a little… clingy, but he had decided not to think about it too much instead just accepting it, especially since Jimin didn't seem to mind.

"I am sorry! I know that we were all looking forward to it, I am so sorry I didn't mean to."  _ don't cry, don't cry, keep it together, you are the damn leader.  _ The words were going through Baekhyun's head like a damn chant.

Jimin didn't cry either; instead, he just smiled a sweet little smile "Baek, none of us blames you. I am just worried about you, we have each other, it's you that I fear for, are you gonna be okay?"

Baekhyun's mates were all so sweet and all so caring, and it was simply too much for him, he had tried so hard to be the leader, to always be strong. He wasn't sobbing, but slowly just a little bit at a time, tears were starting to roll down his cheeks, unable to be held in anymore "Minnie I just wanted to go home, I wanted to be with all of you."

"We wanted to be with you as well," Jimin was smiling as well, which made Baekhyun in turn smile through his tears, cause watching the man he loved smile made him just as happy in return ", but even if we can't be together, we have to make the best of it."

"But I…" Baekhyun sniffled a little, rubbing at his eyes to try and desperately get some of the tears away "Christmas?"

"There will be more Christmases, but there is only one Baekhyun, so we need to make sure the one we have is okay." There was that eye smile again, the one that Baekhyun adored more than he could ever explain. The one that made him feel, that even if he felt as if the world was ending, even if he wanted to give up on everything, it was going to be okay.

"I love you." Baekhyun almost couldn't recognise his own voice from how weird it sounded, stemming from his tears.

Jimin just smiled, sending a finger heart through the screen "and we love you just as much, I love you just as much. I just want you to be healthy." then he hesitated "would prefer I tell the rest, or do you wanna do it yourself."

"Can you do it?" Baekhyun didn't like to put it on Jimin to do, but he also wasn't sure that he himself was ready to face his packmates and let them down.

Luckily it didn't seem that Jimin minded as he instead just beamed at Baekhyun in a happy grin "of course! And we will send you tons of pictures, so you better send some pack! It will be like you aren't missing anything!"

It was a sign of just how much Jimin knew him when they first mated the younger would never have dared to just assumed something about Baekhyun, he would always ask, but now he knew. He didn't have to ask, he knew that Baekhyun needed to feel included, that he needed to feel like he was there.

It warmed his heart, "thank you…" no words could ever describe just how much he meant those words, cause thank you was really all he could think of. For loving him? For trusting him? For believing in him? For supporting him? Baekhyun wasn't even sure, nor did it really matter. All that mattered was the fact that he loved his pack. He loved Jimin, he loved Luhan, he loved the rest of Exo, and he loved Tao and Yifan even if they weren't with them currently.

"Always here to help!" Jimin clearly wanted to say more, but a knock was heard on Baekhyun's door, as it slowly opened.

"Baekhyun? A delivery arrived for you at the door, they want you to sign for it if you are okay too?" It was Seulki at the door, she was SuperM manager, having worked with the WayV boys before being transferred over to working with SuperM instead.

She was a fairly short half Chinese and half Korean lady, and she was honest to god the sweetest woman Baekhyun had ever met. She was not directly employed by SM instead by a sub-company of SM's, making her further removed than their typical manager, and it could be felt. She was always warmer towards them, and it was clear that she was trying to shield them as much as she could without losing her job. All of SuperM loved her dearly.

"Of course." he nodded towards her with a wobbly smile, "give me 1 minute, please?"

She just nodded at him with a motherly smile, then smiling at Jimin on the phone "Merry Christmas Jimin-ssi."

"Merry Christmas Seulki-noona!" Jimin called happily, waving at the camera, he had met her through video calls more than a few times, and always said she had the same motherly quality like BTS's own managers had.

Seul-ki never hovered around, she respected all of them and their packs, she always let them have their space. Something many other SM managers would not allow, always hovering around, control what they could or should say.

Saying goodbye to Jimin was a little sad, but Baekhyun didn't feel as heavy-hearted as he had when he called him. Jimin was right, it was gonna be okay, they were gonna be alright.

As he walked through the hallway, 4 of the rooms were empty, with the other two having their doors closed, it wasn't hard to guess what was going on behind those closed doors, Baekhyun was happy that at least they were helping each other. He had been worried that some of them, especially Ten, would have closed in on themselves at the news and refused to let anybody in. It was times like these that Baekhyun didn't mind being wrong.

At the door, he didn't find what he had expected. He had maybe just expected a grocery delivery since now that they had to stay in America longer they would need more food.

What Baekhyun instead got was a large number of boxes and a… Christmas tree? Standing next to the delivery man "Baekhyun Byun correct?" god his English wasn't good enough for this.

Baekhyun blinked a few times in surprise, as his brain tried to wrap itself around what would be the correct formulation of English words to answer "yes?"

"Can you sign here?" a device with an electronic pen was chugged towards him, and Baekhyun almost dropped it as the other man let go of it.

Even if Baekhyun wasn't entirely sure what was going on, he was quick to sign the device, Seulki hovering around in the background ready to help him if he wanted it.

The man, a wide smiling, equally wide belted man with deep-set eyes and a greying beard took the device done "oh there was a note with it as well for you, is it okay I leave it out here?"

A card was stuck into Baekhyun's confused hand, who looked over at his manager for help, the American was speaking way to fast, and way to heavily accented for him to keep up.

Seulki, always the godsent, was quick to step in "of course, we will take it from here, Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you as well!" the man waved as he left, whistling as he walked down the pass to his vehicle, leaving Baekhyun to stare at the envelope in his hand.

It was addressed to him, not SuperM, and for some reason, his hands were shaking it as he opened it, pulling it a fragile card with text in Korean.

_ 'Please don't cry, the nightmare will all be over soon, but until then, these things should help you and the rest smile just a bit. _

_ Merry Christmas Baek' _

The sender was marked as  **_ 'TY.' _ **

**Author's Note:**

> If you like Super M I have more stories in this series about them, and plan on writing even more!
> 
> Other ways to keep up with me:  
> [My writing twitter](https://twitter.com/PrussiaSheiala)  
> [Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/LadyPrussia)  
> I also write books, for anybody interested, here:  
> [Omega Unchained](https://twitter.com/PrussiaSheiala/status/1226372589121044480)  
> [Omega Entangled](https://twitter.com/PrussiaSheiala/status/1267159675017011207)


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